


screaming to the bleachers

by socially_inept



Series: dig a little deeper [1]
Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: Character Study, Domestic Violence, Gen, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:00:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21927841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/socially_inept/pseuds/socially_inept
Summary: //sometimes the evil fairy is just the evil fairy.//(sometimes the beast is still a beast underneath.)in which audrey rose is more than a pretty face and a prejudiced view.
Series: dig a little deeper [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1579306
Comments: 1
Kudos: 42





	screaming to the bleachers

**Author's Note:**

> **content warning for mention of domestic abuse.**

the truth is this: her father wanted a son. don’t all princes want more princes? audrey rose is born with a twin brother, henry george. he dies young. it’s a tragic accident, which no one can ever seem to stop talking about. they’re playing about in the castle, six years old; and when audrey rose runs up the stairs to the tallest tower, henry george follows her. and then he’s falling, down and down and down. the stairs are stone. henry george isn’t a baby, his skull isn’t soft, but the stairs are stone and he falls and there’s so much blood and _mama! papa! henry is-_

> they blame different things. they board the tower up, for queen leah fears that it’s cursed. it’s always a curse, in a world like theirs.

> philip is not so sold on this idea. curses don’t exist anymore, not with those villains ( _maleficent_ , whispers a voice in his head, _the evil fairy was never invited to the christening_ ) without their magic, all the way on the isle of the lost. no, the fault lies with a different girl.

> audrey rose should have known better than to run up the tower stairs.

the truth is this: philip and aurora were never friends. there is a way that these things are supposed to happen - betrothal after courtship after friendship - but philip and aurora were never friends. there was only a dance in the woods; an older man and a beautiful girl; a kiss to change the world; and a wedding the next season.

> philip and aurora love each other, audrey rose is convinced of that. but sometimes love is not enough. sometimes even love can’t turn a beast of a man back into a man. sometimes evil is simply evil.

> audrey rose knows this because the sees the bruising around her mother’s neck and the popped blood vessel in her eye and the bald spot where he pulled so hard he _tore_.

the truth is this: audrey rose is perfect. it’s an objective fact. the sky is blue, water is wet, audrey rose is perfect. 

> she had better be. the _effortless beauty_ her mother has always demonstrated is not so effortless after all: it’s tearing the hair from her arms and legs and always declining dessert. it’s a carefully constructed act of tenderness and grace. _ambition_ , but not so much that she might overshadow her husband. _docility_ , but not so much that she’ll bore him. _hospitability_ , but not so much that she’ll allow another girl to take her place in her own home.

> the queen calls her self-absorbed. not to her face, of course, but philip has eyes and ears everywhere and he is furious when he finds out. _vanity_ is not on the list of perfect traits.

the truth is this: ben is a beast in some ways and a man in others. or so she had thought. or so she still thinks, up until the moment he declares his love for a girl he’s only known weeks. up until the moment he humiliates her before every peer she’s ever known. no man is such a monster. 

> audrey rose kisses chad and he tastes like sweat and lust and puts his hand lower, lower, lower on her back.

> she cries forever in the safety of her own bedroom. where else is safe to cry, these days? she thinks about the tower in her castle back home and she stands at the top of the tallest staircase in the school. she thinks, _would it be painless_ , but she knows it wouldn’t be.

> she paints concealer around her puffy eyes and dusts glitter over the lids. she’s hidden worse.

the truth is this: all men are beasts. the evil fairy is only ever the evil fairy.

**Author's Note:**

> the title is from "cheerleader" by luna shadows. thanks for reading!
> 
> -dan xx


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